The invention relates generally to a motor braking technique for motor drive systems such as servomotor drive systems.
Electric motors such servo motors are employed in a variety of applications such as material packaging, metal forming applications and so forth. In many such applications, it is desirable to rapidly brake rotation of the rotor to stop the motor during certain phases of operation, or in case power is interrupted either intentionally or due to any system fault, or at times simply to hold a mechanical load without movement. Various types of braking devices are known including mechanical and electrical brakes that are controlled by brake control circuitry coupled to the drive of such systems. Typically, the cost of the brake control circuitry, which is included in the servo motor drive, is included with every drive axis of such systems, even though only a small percentage of axes actually require it. The motors themselves may or may not include a brake, depending upon the application requirements.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop an efficient and cost effective motor braking system that may be selectively used for braking motors in appropriate systems, where needed.